Taylor, Cliff

2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

The Sunday Business Post - Ireland | 10/04/2013

Ireland and Portugal can relax

The troika wants to grant Ireland and Portugal seven more years to pay back their bailout loans, in a bid to help the countries regain access to international financial markets. The Euro Group finance ministers want to discuss a paper to this effect on Friday and Saturday in Dublin. Good news, the liberal magazine Sunday Business Post writes: "It seems now - in contrast to indications coming from Dublin and Brussels at the weekend - the deal could be effectively signed off, at this week's meeting of Euro Group finance ministers in Dublin. The deteriorating situation in Portugal, where the government is scrambling for new cuts after the constitutional court ruled some should not go ahead, may be pushing movement. And so may the need for some positive news in the wake of the Cyprus bailout fiasco. As it is an informal meeting, the dotting of i's and crossing of t's may have to await a later meeting, but something akin to a final political decision looks on the cards."

Irish economy at a turning point

According to current calculations by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, Ireland's GDP will grow by up to 1.8 percent this year. This growth could mark a watershed provided consumers regain their confidence, the liberal magazine Sunday Business Post believes: "The crucial part of this equation is the assumption that confidence will start to slowly seep back into the economy. Certainly international investors are taking a benign to positive view of our prospects. But can this confidence start to seep into the domestic economy? For this to happen, I think some positive factors will be needed - for example a meaningful deal to restructure the promissory note payments and some signs as the year goes on that international conditions are on the up, even by a bit. Consumers here were bitten by being over confident during the boom years - and so, in some cases anyway, extreme caution will remain, even among those who are not laden down by debts. So far, I think people have come to the conclusion that the worst of the downturn may be over - but they have still to become confident that any upturn is in prospect."